overview
More builders are trending towards sustainable forms of housing with a focus on environmental factors, which can help with affordability in the long-term. Historically, building with sustainability in mind has been limited to high income, affluent areas. When addressing affordable housing, it is imperative that environmental factors and sustainability are brought to the forefront of the conversation, as climate related disasters and climate change are on the rise.
Decarbonization | Resilience to Climate Change | Energy Efficiency | Ivory Prize Examples
Decarbonization
Buildings are the number one producers of carbon pollution both directly and indirectly, representing 39% of all carbon dioxide emissions. There has been a push in various areas of the country to curb these emissions, however low-income black and latinx households have disproportionately borne both energy and pollution burdens.
Resilience to Climate Change and Extreme Weather
Climate related disasters are on the rise - hurricanes, wildfires, droughts and more are plaguing America and it is affecting affordable housing. The stability of many communities are under threat as millions of people are being displaced from their homes. Unfortunately a disproportionate number of these homes are households of color. Housing solutions in conjunction with adequate federal response can help these communities build resiliency to climate change and extreme weather.
Energy Efficiency
Design costs, options, and styles vary, most energy-efficient homes have some basic elements in common: a tightly sealed thermal envelope; controlled ventilation; properly sized, high-efficiency heating and cooling systems; energy efficient doors, windows, and appliances. Often energy efficient designs are expensive on the front end and don’t show savings until they have been in use for some time - which can make them inaccessible for low income populations.
Ivory Prize Winners and Finalists Focused on Environmental Factors and Sustainability
2021 Construction & Design Co-Winner - BamCore
Since April 2020, “unprecedented spikes in lumber prices have added more than $24,000 to the price of the average, new single-family home, and nearly $9,000 to the price of a multifamily home,” according to the National Home builders Association. BamCore’s innovative bamboo-based framing solution has the potential to address this crippling rise in material costs, provide a more climate positive supply chain, reduce the need for skilled labor and speed up the build time by more than 50 percent, while producing a much more energy-efficient home.
2021 Construction & Design Co-Winner - Curtis + Ginsberg Architects (C+GA)
Often sustainability and affordability are competitive goals for housing development. However, C+GA is pioneering new approaches to break through the budgetary barriers that previously made building energy-efficient and affordable multifamily housing difficult. C+GA has designed the largest completed Passive House affordable housing building in the United States. Their primary strategy in designing energy-efficient Passive House standards is to reduce the operational cost of buildings, in turn, maintaining affordability long after a building is built, while providing healthier buildings for residents.
2019 and 2022 CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN FINALIST - fORTERRA
Forterra’s Forest to Home Initiative brings together a coalition of Tribes, communities of color, land trusts, and architects to re-engineer the affordable housing supply chain. At the center of the initiative is an all Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) Modular prototype. The CLT Modular prototype replaces traditional carbon-intensive building practices and materials and lowers the cost of construction. It yields a triple bottom line solution to affordable housing bringing environmental sustainability, economic development and social equity. This is a long-term sustainable solution for future generations.
2019 cONSTRUCTION & DESIGN FINALIST - baya build
Baya Build is a technology company that offers a revolutionary, ultra efficient design thru build alternative to developers of housing and commercial structures. Baya’s mission is to build communities that optimize health, promote greater well being and provide for equitable living. James Casper, the founder, and CEO of Baya Build states “Our goal is to democratize the industry, enabling the fairest value to the consumer. With the end result being affordable luxury, and high-performance structures to a wide range of customers. Furthermore, consumers have the opportunity to design eco-friendly premium pre-designed homes in minutes on Baya Build’s website that can be erected in a few days. Developers and home builders are not left behind as they can achieve unprecedented levels of efficiency through the website by saving valuable time on design, construction, and prediction of costs in their building processes”.